A problem that arises in secure communications is that a solution or secure messaging protocol may actually involve a selection among competing security protocols. Some secure messaging protocols cost more in computational load, perhaps delivering less security. Other protocols can deliver less security because the channel along which they communicate is itself well-protected. A large number, if not a majority of common messaging protocols exhibit limited versatility in the form of selection among only a handful of alternatives, typically less than a dozen.
Also, the selection among protocols typically requires both ends of the channel to use intelligent mechanisms with Turing Machine power in order to negotiate which protocol is being selected.
Improved systems and methods are therefore desired, which could provide increased versatility and extensibility to many different secure and non-secure messaging protocols and which do not require intelligent mechanisms at both channel ends to negotiate a selected protocol.
Various embodiments of the present invention address these problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.